Frank E. Thompson Middle School, Newport, RI after renovations
Frank E. Thompson Middle School is a middle school in Newport, Rhode Island. Thompson has 379 students that are of various demographics. This school is an interesting place because it is in downtown Newport. Newport is a place that is highly visited in the summers by wealthy individuals and has been since the early 1900s. After the tourists and families with summer homes leave for the school year and the fall starts creeping in, you start to see a different kind of Newport. Students of all backgrounds enter their schools to begin the school year. Thompson Middle School is a good description of the Newport's residents. The school is 69 percent white and 37 percent black with 69 percent of the students receiving subsidized lunch. The middle school underwent construction from 2007-2010. During which time all grades were scattered throughout Newport. The brand new school, replacing the old building is located on Broadway in Newport. There isn't a field for physical education classes because the school is in the middle of the city. The students use various public parks nearby for outdoor activities. Over the years Thompson has had three different principals and numerous deans running the school(s) (different facilities throughout Newport during 2007-2010. When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) hit Newport the students' reading and math scores did improve slightly, but with the amount of money of NCLB its pedagogies, the research indicates that NCLB might not have been the reason of why students started doing better. I chose to research Thompson Middle School because I'm interested in the differences in incomes and zoning in Newport. Newport is such a fascinating place, that many of us forget that there is a high percentage of section 8 housing and poverty between the mansions and yachts.
Looking at the academic performance of 8th graders from 2000-2001 it shows that before No Child Left Behind was put into place almost half of the students (41 percent) were proficient with reading and only 25 percent were proficient in math. Once NCLB was put into place reading scores improved did improve for the 2008-2009 school year for the 8th graders. (http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2009/pdf/ds-achieve/21d-achi.pdf) The percentage of proficiency went from 41 to 52 percent. (http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2002/pdf/21d-p1.pdf) There isn't enough research to determine why this was the case and there are probably multiple confounding variables, but one potential thought would be with NCLB, teachers were teaching more to the test and thus the students showed significant improvement. These are also two different sets of tests I am comparing. The tests from 2001-2002 could have been a much more difficult test. But, it is safe to conclude that if NCLB was sent out to schools across the nation to improve test scores, regardless of how teaching would be done to improve them, then NCLB did do slight improvement at Thompson Middle School in reading.
As far as math scores go, Thompson Middle School shows that in 2001-2002 only 25 percent of the 8th grade student population were proficient. That is significantly below average. After NCLB was put into place the 8th grade math scores rose to 42 percent proficient. This is a pretty significant increase. As far as understanding how this happened and why this happened, more research would need to be done in order to determine what the school did differently. NCLB definitely helped Thompson Middle School in math proficiency, according to standardized test data, not according to anything else.
With this brief data it is hard to say if No Child Left Behind made a positive difference at Thompson Middle School. According to the standardized test scores, it did. I'd be weary to say that NCLB worked for Thompson because I do not have the research to prove that it did. The tests results show that if the teachers were teaching to the test, then their scores were risen as such. If the test results prove that teachers were trying different learning approaches and strategies and students were as a whole completely comprehending the learning pedagogies, then NCLB worked. NCLB was put in place in order for schools to show how well they were doing. If school came down to just strictly test scores, then it is valid to say that Thompson Middle School improved significantly once NCLB was put into place.
Thompson Middle School State Assessments 8th grade 2000-2001, 2008-2009 (With No Child Left Behind and without No Child Left Behind)
Different Tests: Looking at data if No Child Left Behind Made A Difference Math Percentages 8th grade TMS 2008-2009 42% proficient 22% below 27% far below
Math Percentages 8th grade TMS 2000-2001 25% proficient 29% barely 20% far below
Frank E. Thompson Middle School is a middle school in Newport, Rhode Island. Thompson has 379 students that are of various demographics. This school is an interesting place because it is in downtown Newport. Newport is a place that is highly visited in the summers by wealthy individuals and has been since the early 1900s. After the tourists and families with summer homes leave for the school year and the fall starts creeping in, you start to see a different kind of Newport. Students of all backgrounds enter their schools to begin the school year. Thompson Middle School is a good description of the Newport's residents. The school is 69 percent white and 37 percent black with 69 percent of the students receiving subsidized lunch. The middle school underwent construction from 2007-2010. During which time all grades were scattered throughout Newport. The brand new school, replacing the old building is located on Broadway in Newport. There isn't a field for physical education classes because the school is in the middle of the city. The students use various public parks nearby for outdoor activities. Over the years Thompson has had three different principals and numerous deans running the school(s) (different facilities throughout Newport during 2007-2010. When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) hit Newport the students' reading and math scores did improve slightly, but with the amount of money of NCLB its pedagogies, the research indicates that NCLB might not have been the reason of why students started doing better. I chose to research Thompson Middle School because I'm interested in the differences in incomes and zoning in Newport. Newport is such a fascinating place, that many of us forget that there is a high percentage of section 8 housing and poverty between the mansions and yachts.
Looking at the academic performance of 8th graders from 2000-2001 it shows that before No Child Left Behind was put into place almost half of the students (41 percent) were proficient with reading and only 25 percent were proficient in math. Once NCLB was put into place reading scores improved did improve for the 2008-2009 school year for the 8th graders. (http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2009/pdf/ds-achieve/21d-achi.pdf) The percentage of proficiency went from 41 to 52 percent. (http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2002/pdf/21d-p1.pdf) There isn't enough research to determine why this was the case and there are probably multiple confounding variables, but one potential thought would be with NCLB, teachers were teaching more to the test and thus the students showed significant improvement. These are also two different sets of tests I am comparing. The tests from 2001-2002 could have been a much more difficult test. But, it is safe to conclude that if NCLB was sent out to schools across the nation to improve test scores, regardless of how teaching would be done to improve them, then NCLB did do slight improvement at Thompson Middle School in reading.
As far as math scores go, Thompson Middle School shows that in 2001-2002 only 25 percent of the 8th grade student population were proficient. That is significantly below average. After NCLB was put into place the 8th grade math scores rose to 42 percent proficient. This is a pretty significant increase. As far as understanding how this happened and why this happened, more research would need to be done in order to determine what the school did differently. NCLB definitely helped Thompson Middle School in math proficiency, according to standardized test data, not according to anything else.
With this brief data it is hard to say if No Child Left Behind made a positive difference at Thompson Middle School. According to the standardized test scores, it did. I'd be weary to say that NCLB worked for Thompson because I do not have the research to prove that it did. The tests results show that if the teachers were teaching to the test, then their scores were risen as such. If the test results prove that teachers were trying different learning approaches and strategies and students were as a whole completely comprehending the learning pedagogies, then NCLB worked. NCLB was put in place in order for schools to show how well they were doing. If school came down to just strictly test scores, then it is valid to say that Thompson Middle School improved significantly once NCLB was put into place.
Data Obtained From Infoworks:
http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2009/default.asp
http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/
Thompson Middle School State Assessments 8th grade 2000-2001, 2008-2009 (With No Child Left Behind and without No Child Left Behind)
Different Tests: Looking at data if No Child Left Behind Made A Difference
Math Percentages 8th grade TMS 2008-2009
42% proficient
22% below
27% far below
Math Percentages 8th grade TMS 2000-2001
25% proficient
29% barely
20% far below
Reading Percentages 8th grade TMS 2008-2009
52% proficient
22% below
10% far below
Reading Percentages 8th grade TMS 2000-2001
41% proficient
31% below
19% far below
All information obtained from:
http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/
http://www.rikidscount.org/matriarch/default.asp
http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2009/default.asp